Utah: Final practice notes

Michael Potekhen leads final practice at Miller Motorsports Park
July 14, 2006. Tooele, Utah. Michael Potekhen, of Tempe, Arizona, topped
the time sheets this morning in the final practice session for Round Six
of the Star Mazda Championship ...

Michael Potekhen leads final practice at Miller Motorsports Park

July 14, 2006. Tooele, Utah. Michael Potekhen, of Tempe, Arizona, topped
the time sheets this morning in the final practice session for Round Six
of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, completing the
sweep of every timed practice session this weekend. Driving the #53
Avenue Communities Apex Racing Mazda, Potekhen lapped the 4.486-mile
circuit in 2:36.447 (103.549 MPH). Championship points leader Adrian
Carrio, driving the #14 Rockford Fosgate World Speed Motorsports Mazda,
clocked the second fastest time of the session at 2:36.465 (103.538 MPH),
setting up a showdown for this afternoon's qualifying session.

"The Apex Racing team has given me an excellent car once again,"
Potekhen, who currently sits second in the championship explained. "We're
only now coming up to the halfway point of the championship and this
brand new team has really hit its stride. We were solid in testing here
last week and the car keeps getting better."

With the series taking part in the inaugural Larry H Miller Dealerships
Utah Grand Prix weekend at the brand new 90-million dollar Miller
Motorsports Park complex in Tooele, Utah, Potekhen also credits another
racetrack, Buttonwillow Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California, with
helping him get up to speed on this 23 turn circuit. "Having raced with
the series in years past at Buttonwillow, which shares some common
features with Miller Motorsports Park, I feel like I had a bit of an edge
in learning this track," Potekhen said. "With the lack of elevation
changes, the wide open space around the track, and the long laps, where a
single mistake will cost you dearly, it has taken some drivers longer to
get up to speed as they find reference points around the track, with my
experience at Buttonwillow I was able to learn the track quickly and
focus on getting faster."

While Potekhen has led every official practice session, Carrio, from
Monument, Colorado, has been hot on his heels, finishing second on the
time sheets in each of the three sessions and closing to within
eighteen-thousandths of a second in the final practice session. "Michael
looks strong this weekend but my crew at Worldspeed Motorsports have been
working hard all weekend to find those extra hundredths we need to get
out front," Carrio said. "I'm looking forward to qualifying this
afternoon and the race for the pole position."